Device for opening and emptying cartons



May 20, 1952 s. G. SEIDEL ETAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 y 20, 1952 s. G. SElDEL ETAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 20, 1952 s. G. SEIDEL ETAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 lo Sheets-Sheet 5 i 5 Q 50 5/ 4 5 4/ 5/ l S. G. SEIDEL ET AL DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS May 20, 1952 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheet s-Sheet 5 S. G. SEIDEL EIAL DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 May 20, 1952 s. G. SElDEL El'AL DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Feb. 26, 1947 May 20, 1952 s. G. SEIDEL EIAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheet s-Sheet 7 May 20, 1952 s. G. SEIDEL ETAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 y 1952 s. G. SEIDEL ET AL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 O 0 O 0 D O O o 0 0 0'0 O O O O O O 0 O O y 1952 s. G. SElDEL EIAL 2,597,387

DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTON S Filed Feb. 26, 1947 10 Sheets-Sheet 10 EM? Jam Patented May 20, 1952 DEVICE FOR OPENING AND EMPTYING CARTONS Stephen G. Seidel, Abington, and Robert r. Lowncs, Philadelphia, Pa., .assignors to John A. Margolis, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application February 26, 1947, Serial No. 731,068

Claims. (01. 214-11) This invention relates to an apparatus for opening and emptying cartons and is an improvement on the apparatus of Patent No. 2,323,852, granted July'6, 1943, to S. Grseidel and R.P.Lownes.

An important object of the present invention is the production of. an aparatus of the character set forth in said patent in which accurate control of the carton and its contents may be had at all times during the operation of discharging the said contents and in which possibility of breakage of the contents is eliminated or reduced to a minimum.

Another and important object of the invention is the provision of a construction embodying these advances while at the same time materially reducing the all-over size of the machine as described in the foregoing patent and as heretofore employed in the trade. Still another object of the invention is the provision of an improved means for insuring retention in the carton of the divider, employed in cartons for separating frangible contents such as glassware when the carton and its contents are separated so that the carton may be preserved in its original state and be ready for reception of the removed contents, after the necessary filling or steps have been taken in connection therewith.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of means for timing the presentation of the carton for performance of the various steps necessary to open the carton flaps and removal of the contents thereof;

These and other objects are obtained by the construction shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein, for the purpose of illustration, there is shown a preferred embodiment'of the invention, and wherein a Figures 1 and 1a are views'showing the plan view of the mechanism.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, whereof Figures 3, 4 and 5 are enlarged transverse sectionalviews on lines 3-3, 4- 3 and 5-5 respectively of Figure 2;

Figure 6' is a fragmentary longitudinal section illustrating the .first step in the opening of the carton and removal of the contents thereof;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal-sectional view showing the second step in the operation; I

Figures 8, 9, 10,11,12, '13 and 14 are longitudinal-sectional view showing succeedingsteps line I 5-45. of

Figure 16 is a sectional view on line Iii-'16 of Figure 6; 1

Figural? is a perspective view of the leaf control element for the movable leaf of the fixed table; 7 g

Figure 18 is a perspective view of the movable table;and

Figure 19 is a fragmentary perspective view of a detail of the apparatus.

Referringnow moreparticularly to the drawings, the machine illustrated may be considered as divided into three sectionsthe receiving section III, the flap-opening section, I I, and the carton-removing andcontents-dispersing section The, receiving section It) comprises a pair of conveyor units l3 and (4, each consisting of a series of belts 16 operating about pulleys I1 and adapted to deliver the cartons C from a rollerconveyor H1, or other suitable supply mechanism, to the flap-opening section II of the machine. In order that the delivery of the cartons C to the flap-opening mechanism may be regulated and suitably timed with relation to the step-by-step operation of the mechanism ineluded in the flap-opening section (hereinafter to be more fully described), the conveyors l3 and M are preferably arranged at different levels as regards their operativeflights, the initial or receiving conveyor 13 being arranged at the lower level. At the junction ofthe conveyor M with they conveyor l3, stops is are provided against which cartons supported upon the conveyor [3 come to. rest, the conveyor moving idly therebeneath. A bell crank-'20 actuated from drive motor 2!, which motor may also serve as a driving means for conveyors l3 and [4, acts periodically to elevate the forward'end of the cartons C resting upon the conveyor l3 which is thereupon delivered by conveyor l3 into engagement with the receiving end of conveyor M. The bell crank lever is then withdrawn, the carton at this time-being disposed-- above stops [9 and under control of conveyors l3 and M, which control is maintaineduntil the carton has advanoed'to apoint such that: by gravity it comes to. rest upon the conveyor l4 and is propelled thereby to the flap-opening mechanism ll. As at present shown, motor 2| drives a worm shaft 22,,having a'worm. 23. driving shaft 24, which is chain and, sprocket connected to conveyor M as at 25. A-driven shaft 26 of: conveyor I4 is connected to 'drivean eccentric 2'! through. which hell crank. 21! is actuated; Shaftll taslhereinaiter-more fully described). controls the sequence of operations of the flap-opening mechanism H and of the carton-removing mechanism, so that in all cases delivery of the filled cartons to the flap-opening mechanism and succeeding operations may be synchronized.

The flap-opening mechanism comprises side frames 28 mounting brackets 29, the inner ends of which support guide rails 30 mounting reciprocatory bars 3| having bolted thereto in spaced relation bars 3|a to which are pivotally attached pawls 32. Reciprocation of these bars is at present shown as effected by shaft 24, which mounts a crank 39 connected throughlink 33 to an arm fixed to a shaft 35. Shaft 35 bears spaced arms 36 linked at 31 to their associated-reciprocatory bars 3|. Brackets 29 also mount longitudinallyextending bars 38, these bars being fixed against longitudinal movement and bearing holding pawls 32a for preventing retrogressive move ments of cartons C as these are advanced by bars 3| through the various positions which they occupy in the flap-opening mechanism. The spacing between the bars Ella and bars 3| is made adjustable in order that the machine may be adapted for cartons of different widths. In the case of guide rails 30 these are secured to brackets 29 by bolts 40, which between the guide rails and brackets are surrounded by spacer sleeves 4|. Obviously by use of sleeves of different lengths the guide rails 30 may be positioned as desired. Bars 38 are transversely slotted at 42 for the reception of clamping bolts to permit transverse adjustment thereof.

At the receiving end of theflap-opening mechanism there are arranged opposed pairs of rollers 43 supported by brackets 44 slidably seated upon shelves 45 secured to side frames 28. These rollers are adjustable toward and away from one another, brackets 44 being connected by a transverse shaft 45 having opposite threaded engagement therewith. The pairs of rollers 43 are opposedly inclined, sloping inwardly and downwardly with the result that when a carton leaving the conveyor |4 comes to rest thereon (it being assumed that the carton approaches the flap-opening section H with the medial line between what may be termed the outer flaps 41 thereof directed longitudinally of the flapopening section) the weight of the contents, pressing upon the inner flaps 48 and 49 of the carton, will force the outer flaps 41 downwardly so that they rest upon and assume the angles of the associated rollers 43.

From its position on the rollers 43, the movement of the carton through the flap-opening mechanism is under control of reciprocating bars 3|a and the pawls thereof, and initial movement of the carton is to the position shown in Figure 6. During this movement carton C is shifted from the rollers 43 to partially overlie a stationary table 59 supported by a fixed bracket Table 5 3 comprises a fixed leaf 52 adapted to enter between the down-bent outer flaps 41 and engage beneath the inner flaps 48 and 49 to support the same and contents of the carton, the forward edge of this fixed leaf being downbent as at 53 in order that it may elevate the left-hand inner flaps 49 in event that this is slightly downwardly displaced as may readily be the case. Supporting engagement of both inner flaps by the fixed leaf occurs prior to the time when the outer flaps 41 disengage from rollers 43'. The bracket 5| has pivoted thereto at 54 the 'forwardedge or a tiltable leaf 55'for table 55, this" leaf being movable between a position where it inclines upwardly and rearwardly as shown in solid lines in Figure 6, and a downwardly and rearwardly inclining position shown in solid lines in Figure 8. A spring 56 connected between bracket 5| and arm 51 secured to leaf normally maintains leaf 55 in its upwardly and rearwardly inclining position shown in Figure 6. The rear edge of fixed leaf 52 is notched at 58, and pivoted to the leaf at the forward end of this notch at 59 is a trip plate 60. Mounted upon a transverse pivot 6| below the table is a control lever 62 having its upper end of roller 63 engaging the under surface of trip plate and having its lower end connected to bracket 5| by aspring 64. This spring serves to normally urge the trip plate 60 to the solid line position of Figure 8, in which position stops 65 carried by control lever 62 are moved out of alignment with abutments 66 on movable leaf 55 and will, thus, permit this movable leaf to shift to its lower solid line position of Figure 8. When, however, trip plate 60 is shifted to a position where it is coplanar with fixed leaf 52, stops 65 and abutments 66 are aligned and movement of the leaf 55 from its upwardly and rearwardly inclining position of Figure 6 toward the position of Figure 8 is limited when the fixed and movable leaves 52 and 55 are in alignment. It will, thus, be seen that when the carton C is being moved from its position of Figure 6 to the position of Figure 7, the table leaves are rigidified to one another and serve as solid support for the inner flaps 48 and 49 of the carton and thus for the contents thereof.

At the rear end of the flap-opening section the. side frames 28 are connected by transverse stationary support 61, the forward end of which is inclined downwardly and forwardly as at 63. Arranged between the stationary support 61 and stationary table 50 is a reciprocating table 69 which functions both as a support for the contents of the carton C during its travel along the carton-opening section between the stationary table 50 and support 61, and as a means for opening the inner flaps 48 and 49 of the carton. The table is mounted through a reduced neck 10 upon a slide 1| mounted on longitudinally-extending guide rods 12. Slide 1| is linked at 13 to one arm of hell crank 14, the other arm of which bears a roller engaging the track of a barrel cam 15 driven by the shaft 22, so movements of table 69 may be synchronized with movements of the cartons C as controlled by the reciprocating pawl bars. Cam 15 is so formed that movement of table 69 toward table 50, during which time table 69 is moving in the direction opposed to the direction of movement of carton C; is relatively slow as compared to its return travel or travel toward the support 61. Table 69 includes side bars 16 the upper surfaces of which extend slightly above the surface of table 69 and the ends of which project beyond the ends of this table. At their forward ends; bars 16 are equipped with horns 11 shaped to engage the inner faces of outer flaps 41 of carton C as the table 69 approaches table 59 and spread these flaps outwardly to a horizontal position, so that they and the side edges of the carton may come to rest upon the elevated side bars 15, thus transferring the principal support of the carton to these side bars.

Q Assuming the parts to be in the position illustrated in Figure '7, the table 69 is moving slowly to the left in the direction of arrow a of this figure and coincidentally with this movement the 51: reciprocatory bars. advance the. carton- C- from the position oft-Figure .7; to. the. position. of; Fig.- urmfi: 'In thisposition forwardimovementof tablecfifl: hasv terminated; sidebars 1'6. support the: canton, and: the. table underliesv the righthand inner flap .ofqthecartonandprojects slightly beyond the meeting line betweenfiaps 4.8.and 49 so; that it. serves tosupportthe contents: of thehcartondyingi beyond. the. center thereof and immediatelyadjaeent thereto., The movement ofythe carton over table 50; has. shiftedithe left-hand edgeof r the. carton from trip plate: 69 anda spr-ing fi izhasrmovedrthe. lower. end of control lever 62: to,: the left disengaging stops; 65; from abutmentsfiw'ir and permitting; the; movable leaf 55: of. table 50. toshift downwardly against the action: of; its spring, thereby; permitting. the. left: hand: inner flap of carton- C; to swing. downward-.- 1y; The sagging of. fiapiiil: occurs. prior to; arrival .ofz the carton at-the position: of; Figure; 8 with theresult. thatjthe forward edge .of table 59 enters between this flap and thecontents of theearton, The nextactuation of' the-reeipro: cater-y bars movesthecarton G to the position show Fi ur table 6.9.: du in t st ant rem ini stati narix t..w 1 lieted hati his mQ meht -ts; thercarton. v r. mo abletable 63; from a position where the. carton SHRPQIIB Q-Wit :1fi fi1 d2 i e pr jectin e ond. h efte ehds dh Q sthe t blet pos 191 Wher he. a t n. ha h ehtrhand side projecting beyond the right-hand sidehof the able. ur n is mqtemeht. he. eitand dge: f. moyeh e t b e .9;- hea es t e eftehand leniah l: .1 hown n. he( nte mediat os t on illu tra ed E ght 9; teih rdefi q n. f th s flan-m Q t -tdiy nd. honizhh l-l d s ose Po i ion. w i t mn ted; as th at-t n. r.- t res at e h s tion. Q f F lll'fii the ab e n w rec l shh rt hsha port n; h connt of a t n Whihh: are them nd. by th op ni eqt h fl n...

A p sit o o F gur he i -htr hd hhe flap 4 5 1%. pas d: eyon e ht-ha g: d of table 69 and is accordinglysubject to opening by the Weight of its contents. Brojeotin g inwardly from the side frames 28 is a pair of; supports. 18 hearing flexible fingers l9; projecting toward the; rear end of: the machine. The flap 49, when first released from the rightehandedge of table 38, comes. to rest upon these supports and mayonly open through a short distance just sufiicient tov admit the adjacent edge of the table- 69. Table- Eflt. now begins its tmteijto the right as indicated by thearrowb, Figure l gand thecarton C is simultaneously shifted to the right by the reeiprocatory bars 31a, Duririgithis combined movement the table- E9 is; moving more rap d h n e hum e h ie -hahdf d of the table enters between. the flap 48 and contents of the carton, forcing ffiap downwardly through deflectionof; the; flexible elements 19 as shown in Figure 11 so that the table 69 at an intermediate point illustrated in Figure- 1.1 ew 1 4113 thhh r th h htehta th ca t nd is by cont nued. mo ment hi tin the t e.in e o-t n d: th mbve l s hl the:

i met-hat, period which flap 4.9 is. bein opened.

6: supportseither a portiontofior all-ofthe. contents of; carton 0,. by. direct. con a t herewith n order-.that. the; friction .of: the. contents upontable 681mm not: cause m vement h car on in: d pendently; q 's ilslmq ement by the rap}; l ars retarding friction is applied to thecartonfill rin this period; satQrBSeht hQWh he utward xtendin ide aps .41: atermqve betwee h tir ontal.;s ph rt .0 a d h e-p e se h h ere e: meme 4- hh prevent n any n e endent movement; Qt the a ton. wh h? mi ht esu i mnet ect penin t ap 4. 1 i.

he: artom t mqv hs; and toh ehterdh eh ih .l-AtQmnr Ses. a lu ali Qic nveyo ha ed.- at 8. and. .5.. heme thew?! h eh aih hqe- .Qf hese. the. e rg 8311. l gned tho. and. rms qht hhr Q he lehheh Se ti n. hhd f; 5. 2

F}? i t flahr enihs. se ion .T e t hve t 8451s helm which hh rtt v h. n te h 2% psi eitq; ha a hvh q 8 an t e i hth heet; Convey 8. x f ur PF iatfi -hh 1 1 sh eqzehq ha ir c i e. o it t ha Qt qphxe r 4: Deflect r .8 is; r ang d. W con ey .3 t ts er 1 9 he; de flee she bo tles. hq h he hvt q' transv sely. onto. the. convejorlii, Atthe disthee? and? o q v' t' h e n ett t 86,"Which' shifts the bottles to the. con yer b i h. he ht d liv e to h Ifil e and labeling mechanism with which, ahnachin e iof histhere st.ie ss c ated.

C t h Qt h ty the s ssion e m nl i ten ed" or? th et tioh f b l hr ar Z' thes btihe pr e tt f r m iq' hthitaot within the. cartqqpy ea of dividers. 82 he isne: Q tt t he; Wi -en a d. card a t ps-1 1h.- tmhhh h h tr' h f om the bottles, it -is, of. oourse, desirable. thatthe dirisieh e z a h d. Yi hh t-tqh- At the.- ipt ard. e d, Qt Q0 v rti sa stripper t e fll .-c mh r h U hap d; 93: the ti t, portion. of;- whic i dir t td itheversely. of the, forward end of tohv ql? 3: nd he arms QffiW Qh exte d; oneit dihhlly and rearwardly over the forward end of; theconveyor. The. bi ht. p t on of: the tr y. shmv dhd With arm A and s5. direc ed, n itudinal y. of on.- .veyor 8-3; and disposed; to lie between adjacent rows, ofbottles. B in a carton; resting uponthe trayl. .Atileast one arm of; the. tray 92 is provided. with a step 9.6, agmnstwhioh one of the extended. side-flaps of-the. carton Gwill engage to..1imit longitudinal; movement, of the carton over the. tray and the bight portion of frame 93, and at least one of the. arms 9. and fifi is positioned to engage beneath the flaps i8 and ML and support the same in their-proper horizontaiposi-tiom. 1 From itgdgtteddinenQfiitiph of Figure:-1 1 ,-'the th i t rbh es ett e qh qt eek bars 3 la to: the position shown; in Figure 12 1 in.

him-th cet ehi thwart d in.

69, in part by support 61, and in part by tray 92. The succeeding actuation by bars 3| a shifts the carton so that it is supported entirely by tray 92, the contents of the carton resting upon conveyor 83 as shown in Figure 13. As the rack bars 3| are withdrawn from this feeding stroke, the ram 81 is actuated, raising the carton C and divider 82 but leaving the bottles seated upon the conveyor 83. Connected to tray 92 is an arm 91, which in the normal horizontal position of the tray and lowered position of the ram, is horizontally disposed. Arm 91 is connected through a slack flexible element 98 with a fixed support 99, and when carton C has been elevated by tray 92 to an extent suflicient to clear the bottles B, the slack in flexible element 98 has been taken up, and arm 91 and accordingly, tray 92, are caused to rotate about pivot 9i from a normal horizontal to a substantially vertical position. The supported carton, falling by gravity from the tray, tips over bar I carried by the upper end of ram 81 and is deposited closed end down upon a conveyor l0! by means of which it may be transported to a convenient point for reception of, the filled and labeled bottles B. Attention is directed to the fact that the use of the multiple conveyor bottling-sorting mechanism shown more clearly in Figure 1a, enables these bottles to be distributed upon the discharge conveyor 85 without the jamming or breakage common to such mechanisms.

The mode of operation of the machine is in general as follows:

The carton C with the contained bottles enter the left hand end of the machine as viewed in path of travel of the carton through the machine. In this position the cartons are fed in suitably spaced relation into the flap-opening section II, the rate of feed being synchronized .with the operation of section Ii as described above. In the flap opening section II, the outer flaps 41 are permitted to drop downwardly at opposite sides of the carton to assume a partially opened position in which they-still function to hold the inner flaps l8 and 49 in closed bottle-supporting positions. In this condition the carton advances onto the relatively fixed table 58, the top of which passes between the partially opened outer flaps and under the still closed inner flaps so as to support the latter and the contents of the carton independently of the outer flaps. The outer flaps are then permitted to drop downwardly to a fully opened position at opposite sides respectively of the table.

As the reciprocating bars 3i and the pawls 32 continue to advance the carton in its path of travel, the carton being supported solely on the table 58, the tripping leaf 55 of the table top permits the inner flap 48 at the trailing end of the carton to move downwardly as best shown in Fig. 8. At this point the forward end of the carton will have been engaged by the rear end of the reciprocating table 69 so that that table assumes the function of the flap 48 to support the bottles at the trailing end of the carton. Further advance movement of the carton with respect to the table 69 will turn back the flap 48 to an extended substantially horizontal position resting upon the top of table 69. Before the movement has progressed to this'extent, however, the elements I7 of the table 69 'will have 8. turned the depending outer flaps upwardly and outwardly to a horizontal position in which the portions of those flaps which adjoin the hinges will be confined between the side rails I8 of the table 69 and the spring pressed member 8|. The carton will now be supported solely upon the rails 16 of the table 69.

When the carton has advanced on the table 99 to the point where the forward edge of the table top lies rearwardly of the forward inner flap 9, that flap will be permitted to drop onto the supports 18 and the flexible fingers 19 (see Figs. 10 and 11). At this point the table 69 advances with respect to the carton so that the forward edge of the table will pass under the bottles in the forward part of the carton and will simultaneously force the flap 49 downwardly and forwardly to a substantially horizontal position so that it may pass over the support 61 and onto the tray 92.

The advance movement of the carton onto this tray permits the bottles to move downwardly between the arms of the tray onto the conveyor 83, and after all of the bottles have thus moved downwardly onto the conveyor the tray is elevated to remove and displace the carton onto the conveyor iOi which thus removes the empty carton, now in upright position, from the machine. The bottles disposed on the conveyor 83 are carried to the deflector 85 and then transferred in more or less uniformly spaced single row relation to the belt 85 by means of the device illustrated in Fig. 1a.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that a machine of this character is extremely compact and will occupy but little space as compared with machines of thesame character as heretofore constructed. Furthermore, since the cartons are at all times moving in a straight path and side conveyors are eliminated to the greatest possible extent, servicing of the machine and the number of attendants necessary may be materially reduced. Since the construction illustrated is obviously capable of considerable modification, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific detail thereof except as hereinafter claimed.

We claim.

1. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons having outer and inner closure flaps, the combination with means for advancing the cartons in inverted positions over a predetermined path, of a series of supports in said path successively receiving the carton as it is advanced along said path, said supports including a first support having means to effect a preliminary partial opening of the outer closure flaps, a second support receiving the carton from the first named support and supporting the contents of the carton through the inner closure flaps, and a third support having means to engage and complete the opening of the outer closure flaps together with means to engage and open said inner flaps while directly supporting the contents of the carton.

'2. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons having outer and inner closure flaps, the combination with means for advancing the cartons in inverted positions over a predetermined path, of a series of supports in said path successively receiving the carton as it is advanced along said path, said supports including a first support having means to effect a. preliminary partial opening of the outer closure flaps, a second support receivingthe carton from the first named. support and supporting the contents of Zach-e87 the carton through the inner closure fiaps,a third 'supoprt having means to engage and'scomplete the opening of the outer closure flaps, and means' to engageiandbp'en said inner flaps while directly supporting the contents of the carton, a tray receiving the now opened carton and supporting the same while p'ermitting gravity discharge oithe contents thereof, and means 'for reciprocating said tray in a direction perpendicular to said path.

3. In a machine for opening and emptying loaded cartons having outer and inner pairs of closure flaps, the flaps of said-pairs beingfhin'ged attheir'out'er edges-to the walls of the carto'h and meeting upon lines medial to the carton, the meeting lines being perpendicularly related, means to effect a preliminary opening ot-the outer fiaps comprising opposed supportsadapted to receive and support the edges of the carton to which the outer flaps are hinged, said sup- A ports inclining inwardly and downwardly, whereby the contents of the carton may exert pressure on said outer flaps causing the same to partially open to a position where they inclined downwardly and inwardly at substantially the angle of the supports and are supported thereby, said supports limiting the opening of the outer flaps to an angle such that the inner flaps are maintained closed an support the contents of the carton, a table receiving the carton from said supports and supporting the carton and its contents through engagement with the closed inner flaps thereof, means operative during support of the carton by said table for completing opening of the outer flaps, means on said table for releasing the inner flap at the trailing end of the carton to effect a partial opening of said flap, a reciprocatory support arranged to receive the carton from the table and movable initially into position between the said partially open inner flap and the contents of the carton, and means for reciprocating the support beneath and with respect to the carton to first turn back the said partially open inner flap to fully open position and to simultaneously release the other of the inner flaps, and to then turn back the latter flap to fully open position while still supporting the contents of the carton.

4. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons of the character described, the combination with means for advancing the cartons in inverted positions over a predetermined path, of means in said path for opening the outer closure flaps while preventing discharge of the contents of the carton, dinally of said path for thereafter sequentially opening the inner closure flaps, said means directly engaging the contents of the carton to support the same, and a tray reciprocating prependicularly to said path receiving and supporting the opened carton while permitting passage of the contents thereof.

5. In means for opening and emptying cartons having perpendicularly related pairs of closure flaps hinged to the side walls thereof, the combination with means for advancing the carton over a predetermined path longitudinal to the hinges of said outer closure flaps, of means in said path for successively effecting a preliminary and then a complete opening of the outer closure flaps, said means including a table receiving the carton and its contents and supporting the same through the inner closure flaps thereof during completion of opening of the outer closure flaps, a second table receiving the carton from the means reciprocating longitu- 10 first :named .table, :and means operative during transferiforeffecting a preli'minary opening of one of cthe inner closure fiaps,:said second table includingimeans .for completing opening of said inn'e'rzfiap' 'a'ndfor supporting .thezcontentspfthe cart'oniexposedibyopening thereof; iv

e6; -';Iri;.-me'ar'1s :5 for opening a and :emptying care ton havingperpendicularly'related .pairs of closure'wfiapsnhinged to the ;side walls thereof, the combination withme'ans EfOl advancing :the-cart'on Eoverta predetermined path longitudinal to th'ezhinges 'of saidiouterclosure flaps,of-means in saidwpath for: successively eiTect-ing ar'preliminary and then a completeropeningiof the outerclosure flaps including a table receiving and supporting trier-carton and fits contents through the'inner closure'rfiaps' thereof during completion of open,- ingrof "the OHtEi. closure flaps-"said table including "a rearwardly disposed -m'ovable leaf :movement of which effects a preliminary opening of one of said inner flaps, and a carton controlled latch determining the instant of movement of said leaf.

7. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons having internally arranged separators for the contents thereof and having outer and inner closure flaps the combination with means for advancing the cartons in inverted positions over a predetermined path, of means in said path for successively opening the outer and inner closure flaps of the carton while supporting the contents of the carton to prevent the displacement thereof from the carton, and a tray reciprocating perpendicularly to said path receiving and supporting the opened carton and its separator while permitting passage of the contents thereof.

8. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons having outer closure fiaps hinged respectively to two opposite sides of the carton and inner closure flaps hinged respectively to the two other sides, the combination with means for traversing the cartons over a predetermined linear path of means for supporting the cartons in said traverse movement, said support means including elements initially underlying said flaps and preventing downward displacement thereof by weight of the contents of the carton, and including also a longitudinal section wherein the outer flaps are permitted to move downwardly toward the opposite sides respectively of the path of traverse to a partially open position, a relatively fixed section adjoining said longitudinal section and arranged in the path of traverse to assume a position between the partially open outer flaps and immediately below the inner flaps so as to support the latter independently of the outer flaps, means on said relatively fixed section automatically operative as the carton traverses said section to release the inner flap at the trailing end of the carton for movement downwardly to a partially open position, and a relatively movable section following the said relatively fixed section in said path and movable to a position between the said partially open inner flap and the contents of the carton so as to support said contents independently of the flap.

9. In apparatus for opening and emptying cartons having outer closure flaps hinged respectively to two opposite sides of the carton and inner closure flaps hinged respectively to the two other sides, the combination with means for traversing the cartons over a predetermined linear path, of a relatively fixed table afiord a support for the carton over a portion of said path and on which the carton is supported in inverted position with the outer flaps depending at opposite sides respectively of said path, a reciprocatory table adjoining the said fixed table and arranged to receive the carton from the latter, means on the relatively fixed table for partially releasing the inner flap at the trailing end of the carton so as to permit passage of the reciprocatory table between the said flap and the contents of the carton whereby advance movement of the carton with respect to the latter table will efiect a full opening of the flap while the said contents are supported on the table, and means for reciprocating the table with respect to the carton so as to release and to subsequently open the inner flap at the leading end of the carton simultaneously with the movement of the table under the carton contents so as to support the latter.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein the reciprocatory table carries means for engag- 12 ing and elevating outwardly to substantial horizontal position the dependent outer flaps of the cartons.

STEPHEN G. SEIDEL.

ROBERT P. LOWNES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,227,764 Dupuy May 29, 1917 1,454,051 Heulings May 8, 1923 2,315,880 Stiles Apr. 6, 1943 2,323,852 Seidel et a1. July 6, 1943 2,353,736 Le Frank July 18, 1944 2,389,696 Stiles Nov. 27, 1945 

